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Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said Sunday that she would not support efforts to confirm Donald Trump’s third election to the supreme court before the November 3 presidential election. The move came a day after Susan Collins of Maine, another moderate Republican, took the same position.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can now afford to lose just one more senator if he wants to achieve his goal of tipping the court firmly to the right for a generation or more.
Thanks to reforms initiated by Democrats in 2013 but completed by Republicans in 2017, a simple majority in the Senate is required to confirm a Supreme Court justice.
Murkowski and Collins’ remarks mean that if no Democrat or Independent joins the Republican camp, McConnell can count on a victory by 51 votes to 49. He could afford to lose one more senator, as Vice President Mike Pence would break any tie. .
The Senate Majority Leader seeks to hold a vote before Election Day, or even in the period of lack of conviction after the election and before the next presidential inauguration on January 20, even if Democrats they take the White House and the Senate.
A nine-member court seat was opened in the death Friday night of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, of pancreatic cancer and at the age of 87.
Trump has already appointed Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to court, but they were Conservatives who replaced Conservatives. A right-wing replacement for Ginsburg, a hero to the Liberals, would weigh the court 6-3 in favor of the Conservatives.
Ginsburg’s family said the judge did not want to be replaced before the election, which is less than 50 days away and for which some states have begun voting early.
McConnell immediately ignored that wish and vowed to promote a Trump candidate.
His opponents immediately screamed fouls, over McConnell’s refusal in 2016 to even sanction a hearing for Merrick Garland, Barack Obama’s candidate to replace Antonin Scalia, who died in February of that year. McConnell then argued that a vacancy should not be filled in the last year of a presidency.
On Saturday, Collins said he did not support the moves to vote for any candidate before the election. That night, Trump told a rally in North Carolina that he would nominate a woman, promising to reveal the name in the next few days.
Murkowski had already voiced his opposition to a vote so close to the elections. In a statement Sunday, he made it official.
“For weeks,” he said, “I have said that I would not support filling a potential vacancy on the supreme court so close to the election. Unfortunately, what was hypothetical then is now our reality, but my position has not changed.
“I did not support accepting a nomination eight months before the 2016 election to fill the vacancy created by the passing of Justice Scalia. Now we are even closer to the 2020 elections, less than two months before, and I think the same standard should apply. “
Republicans insist that Garland’s precedent does not apply, because his party has both the Senate and the White House. But there is no constitutional provision that says that a president and a Senate of different parties cannot confirm a judge. Clarence Thomas, a staunch conservative in the current court, was the last judge confirmed by a Senate held by the opposition party to the president.
If Democratic candidate Mark Kelly wins a special election in Arizona, he could be seated before Nov. 30, producing a tie if a vote has not yet taken place.
More immediately, Republicans vulnerable to re-election defeat, like Collins, or less likely to follow Trump’s line than most, like Murkowksi, are being watched closely.
Cory Gardner of Colorado is fighting his career for re-election, while Thom Tillis is in a close fight in North Carolina.
Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander is relatively collegiate-minded and retires, so he’s relatively free of pressure.
Mitt Romney of Utah is a former presidential candidate with an eye on his place in history, the son of a governor who cited his father, his conscience, and his loyalty to the constitution when he became the only Republican to vote for Trump’s impeachment.
Amy Coney Barrett and Barbara Lagoa are reportedly the top contenders Trump will name to replace Ginsburg on the supreme court. Both are of concern to advocates of abortion rights.
Collins and Murkowski have sought to protect women’s right to choose, which is confirmed by a 1973 supreme court ruling, Roe v Wade, which right-wing groups believe could be overturned by a 6-7 conservative court. 3.
Collins endorsed both Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, after saying she was satisfied that they viewed Roe v Wade as established law.
In her statement Saturday, the Maine senator sought to balance loyalty to her party with her own need for a boost in the polls, claiming that Trump had “the constitutional authority to make a nomination” but saying “in fairness to him. American people, “the process must wait until after the election.
Murkowski endorsed Gorsuch but did not vote for Kavanaugh, who denied allegations of sexual assault that prompted a bitter confirmation process and brought Trump to the brink of withdrawing his nomination.
In the Senate, Murkowski made remarks that resonate strongly two years later.
The Senate, he said, was “grappling with issues that are more important than the nominee and how we ensure fairness and how our legislature and judiciary can continue to be respected …
“I think we are in a place where we need to start thinking about the credibility and integrity of our institutions.”
